Tag Archives: ISIS

By Jim Muir for BBC News — Image copyrightAlamy Abu Anis only realised something unusual was happening when he heard the sound of explosions coming from the old city on the western bank of the Tigris as it runs through Mosul. “I phoned some friends over there, and they said armed …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By​ ​ Marc Lynch* — The House Judiciary Committee recently passed a resolution calling on the State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. This resolution resonates with the feverish anti-Islamic politics of the Republican primary, fueled across the spectrum by candidates from Donald …

By Fawaz A Gerges* — To make sense of the sudden rise of Islamic State (IS) and its territorial gains in Iraq and Syria, it is important to place the organisation within the broader global jihadist movement. In particular, we must examine the links with the organisation out of which …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Li Shaoxian, vice-president of a think tank with ties to the Chinese Ministry of State Security, said “many hundreds or thousands” of Uighurs from the country’s western Xinjiang province were involved with ISIS – also known as Daesh – in Syria. He said: “Whether there are …

THE LEVANT NEWS – WASHINGTON | BY WARREN STROBEL, PHIL STEWART AND MARK HOSENBALL for REUTERS — Al Qaeda’s leaders were increasingly worried about spies in their midst, drones in the air and secret tracking devices reporting their movements as the U.S.-led war against them ground on, documents seized in …

THE LEVANT NEWS — The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Moscow has deployed several fighter jets and a transport helicopter to Russia’s airbase in Armenia near the border with Turkey. Four fourth-generation Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft and a number of modernized MiG-29S bombers and a Mil Mi-8MT helicopter have been …

THE LEVANT NEWS: Russia said U.N.-led talks planned for Saturday between major international players on establishing a ceasefire in Syria had been postponed, as wrangling dragged on between the various sides. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agencies that the meeting in Geneva had been put back to …

THE LEVANT NEWS — BEIRUT: Syria’s army and allies, backed by Russian airstrikes, recaptured 18 villages from ISIS fighters in eastern Aleppo province on Saturday, activists said. The advance extended their control of parts of a road running toward the group’s stronghold of Raqqa, and built on gains made in …

The Levant News — BEIRUT: The Gulf Cooperation Council Saturday backed a Saudi decision to reexamine its relationship with Lebanon and halt $4 billion in security grants offered to equip the country’s army and police. “GCC countries stand by Saudi Arabia’s decision that came in response to Lebanon’s official stances,” …

THE LEVANT NEWS — by Ayesha Jalal, Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.), $29.95. — Reviewed by Geoffrey Cook — Madison (Wisc.)–With many contemporary books, I find myself merely skimming over the text. (I think this comes from reading so much information over the …

By Elijah J. Magnier for Global Research — There are three possible scenarios in Syria Participation of [Saudi] Arab troops in Syria is not excluded. A high-ranking officer within the joint operations room in Damascus, which includes Russia, Iran and Syria and Hezbollah said, “ there are three possible scenarios in Syria: …

By Jeffrey Sachs* — In the Milwaukee debate, Hillary Clinton took pride in her role in a recent UN Security Council resolution on a Syrian ceasefire: But I would add this. You know, the Security Council finally got around to adopting a resolution. At the core of that resolution is an …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Graham E. Fuller — On the world scene, America is a declining power. This decline is in part domestic and self-inflicted, reflecting a certain weariness and neglect of our social order. No amount of huffing and puffing from politicians will significantly change this decline. But …

By Gary A. Grappo — Offers by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to deploy forces in the fight against the Islamic State raise more questions than answers about the direction of the conflict. Saudi Arabia recently announced that the kingdom was prepared to dispatch ground forces to Syria to fight the Islamic …

THE LEVANT NEWS EXCLUSIVE – By Jassim Muhammad* — The American “Wall Street Journal” has mentioned that ransom monies collected by Extremist groups in the Middle East, North Africa, and USA are estimated at $120 million from 2012 to 2014 and that Yemen’s al Qaeda branch alone has collected at …

THE LEVANT NEWS — BRUSSELS: Saudi Arabia has decided to increase its military contributions to the campaign against ISIS, including offering to expand its role in the air campaign, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s spokesman said on Thursday after bilateral talks. Carter met Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who …

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has called for a political solution to the Syrian crisis, cautioning against the deployment of ground troops as “a dangerous escalation”. Abadi’s comments seem to be aimed at Sunni Arab countries that have said they were prepared to enter the fray. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Saudi Arabia’s offer to send troops to fight the Islamic State group in Syria is as much about the kingdom’s growing determination to flex its military might as it is about answering U.S. calls for more help from its allies in the Middle East. A Saudi deployment …

THE LEVANT NEWS -GAZIANTEP, Turkey — A car bomb tore up a vegetable market and a police officers’ club in Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Tuesday, according to a witness and to regional news reports, striking an area that had been quiet for about two years under a local agreement …

By SIMON TOMLINSON FOR MAILONLINE Hundreds of former ISIS sex slaves have joined an all-female battalion to launch a massive assault against their abusers in Iraq. The Yazidi women – who call themselves the ‘Force of the Sun Ladies’ – have taken up arms in the quest for revenge …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Islamic State (Isis) in Libya has become a threat to all of Europe and western military intervention may now be required, but only so long as the Libyans can first form a coherent national government, Sir Peter Ricketts, David Cameron’s former national security adviser, has warned. …

The Levant News Exclusive — By Dr. Haytham Mouzahem* — The term of “Jihadi Salafism” The Salafist and Wahhabist strains of radical Islam and their differences are worth understanding, as both ideologies have become more influential in the Middle East and North Africa since the Arab Spring revolutions. Salafi jihadism …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Sheikh Adel al-Kalbani, a former imam at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, said IS executions of western hostages were ‘not outside Salafist framework’ A former imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca has said that the Islamic State (ISIS) group follows the same brand of Islam as officially …

THE LEVANT NEWS — A Russian general has died of unknown causes just weeks after reportedly being sent to Syria to negotiate with President Bashar al-Assad. Colonel-General Igor Sergun was the head of Russia’s secretive GRU military intelligence service and Deputy Chief of the armed forces General Staff. The Ministry …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz — US policy on Iran should be integrated with policies on other vital issues. Considering the growing threat of ISIS, the worsening tragedies in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya, the ignored Arab Israeli conflict, the fragmentation of an entire region, considering all …

The Levant News — By Graham E. Fuller — A renowned Arab religious scholar in the 14th century, ibn Taymiyya, is sometimes quoted as saying, Al-zulm afdal min al-fawda— “oppression is to be favored over anarchy.” Although ibn Taiymiyya was no establishment figure in his time, this perspective was welcomed …

THE LEVANT NEWS — by Graham E. Fuller –Prediction on Turkey: (I was considerably off base on this one): 2015 Prediction: President Erdoğan in Turkey will find his influence beginning to crumble in 2015. After a brilliant prime-ministership for the first decade of AKP power, he has become mired in …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has extended his congratulations to people in the world on the occasion of the New Year of the Gregorian calendar, stressing the importance of promoting peace across the globe. “In 2016, let’s look for reasons to make peace – not excuses for …

THE LEVANT NEWS — by Graham E. Fuller — Having rashly ventured last year into making predictions for the coming year of 2015 in the Middle East, how do those assessments bear up today, one year later? This self-graded scorecard comes in two separate articles: due to space limitations I …

Jihadi fighters in Iraq and Syria reveal the apocalyptic motivations of the militant movement that has hijacked the Syrian uprising – and transformed the Middle East THE LEVANT NEWS – By Martin Chulov for THE GUARDIAN — For more than a century, Dabiq was one of northern Syria’s forsaken villages, …

THE LEVANT NEWS — A UN mission says thousands of people have lost their lives and many more sustained injuries as a result of the ongoing violence in Iraq in the current year. At least 11,118 Iraqis, mostly civilians, have been killed in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict …

THE LEVANT NEWS — The United States and its allies conducted 18 airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and six in Syria on Wednesday, coalition leading the operations said in a statement. The airstrikes in Iraq were concentrated around the northern city of Mosul, where nine strikes destroyed 24 ISIS fighting …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Iraq’s armed forces stormed the center of Ramadi on Tuesday, a spokesman for the counter-terrorism units said, in a drive to dislodge Islamic State militants from their remaining stronghold in a city they captured in May. The operation to recapture Ramadi, a Sunni Muslim city on …

THE LEVANT NEWS — The Syrian Army and its allies managed on Monday to control Maarata town in Aleppo southern countryside, inflicting heavy losses upon the terrorists. Maarata lies to the east of Khan Toman which the Syrian army and allies liberated on Sunday. Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched …

THE LEVANT NEWS — About a third of rebel groups in Syria – some 100,000 fighters – share the ideology of so-called Islamic State (IS), new research suggests. The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, linked to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, said defeating IS militarily “would not end global …

THE LEVANT NEWS — BY Yousef Diab and Marc Abizeid for The Daily Star — BEIRUT: A number of suspected would-be suicide bombers rounded up during a series of security raids targeting hotels in Beirut last year had been recruited from Paris by a local Daesh (ISIS) branch, The Daily …

THE LEVANT NEWS — TEHRAN: Iran will maintain its backing for the Syrian government, a senior Iranian official said, after the U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed a plan to end the war. “We will continue to give our support to Syria,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian. Iran will …

THE LEVANT NEWS — BEIRUT: A Lebanese national fighting alongside ISIS in Syria was said to be killed in the neighboring country, media reports said Saturday. “Louay Al-Rifai, from the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh in the northern city of Tripoli, was killed in battles in Syria,” reported Facebook page Bab …

THE LEVANT NEWS — A U.N.-backed roadmap to end the Syrian war was met with skepticism Saturday by members of the country’s fractured opposition who insist President Bashar Assad must go to achieve peace. The U.S. and Russian initiative, unanimously approved by the U.N. Security Council on Friday, foresees talks …

THE LEVANT NEWS — MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday hailed the country’s secret services for foiling around 30 planned attacks and uncovering more than 320 foreign spies in 2015. “I want to point out that this year, thanks to the efforts of the FSB employees, more than 30 crimes …

THE LEVANT NEWS — ISIS threatened to attack Saudi Arabia for “colluding with crusaders” after the oil-rich kingdom said it had established a 34-state Islamic military coalition to target the militants. In a weekly publication documenting its military activities, the extremist group described as “morons and fools” the 34 members …

THE LEVANT NEWS — BEIRUT: Lebanese General Security said Saturday that it has arrested two members of ISIS, one of whom confessed to being the extremist group’s official “emir” for the north Lebanon district of Akkar. The two, identified as B.F. and Aa.M., were arrested on charges of “forming a …

By Dr. Haytham Mouzahem* “Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”(AQAP), based in Yemen, has significantly denied its involvement in Sanaa’s suicide bombs in the Shia Zaidi mosques, which are frequented by followers of the Houthi “Ansarullah” group, saying it is against its principles to target mosques. The organization announced in a …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By ROBERT SWIFT FOR THE MEDIA LINE — In the halls of power of both the United States and the United Kingdom, renewed discussions have been taking place over the status of the organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood. In Washington, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a …